Lecturer warns against boring play in the kindergarten

Kindergarten day care children kidHappy children playing outside while in day care. Photo NTM

Many children experience boredom in kindergartens because adults lack expertise in creative play,’ said senior lecturer at the Department of Physical Education at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education (DMMH) in Trondheim,Trond Løge Hagen.

 

‘Many kindergartens have a detailed plan for different activities related to educational content when the children are indoors, but are vague and general when it comes to what they do when the children are outside,’ said Hagen to Dagsavisen newspaper.

Hagen emphasised that there is a great need for more knowledge, and awareness, about the time of day in kindergartens, and was supported by Lasse Heimdal, Secretary General of Norwegian Outdoor Life.

Three years ago, Outdoor Life’s Year, 2015, developed the cooperation project, ‘Naturpilotene’, to give employees in kindergartens expertise in how to use nature for play. Over 2,000 employees signed up for the course. ‘Norsk Friluftsliv’ (Norwegian Outdoor Life) applied for support to continue the project after 2016, but received a ‘no’ from the Norwegian Environmental Directorate.

‘I think it’s a scandal, first and foremost for Norwegian toddlers. Research shows that creative play promotes good health, and physical, and social development. New research also shows that it makes the children more concentrated when they start school. The government must wake up and find out who will take responsibility for this case,’ said Heimdal.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today